Thursday, 27 August 2015

CALL ME CAITLYN

From Madonna’s cone bra and Gaga’s
meat dress through to J-Lo in that green Versace dress, there are some outfits that transcend fashion trends and become
a part of culture in their own right. Instantly recognisable, these outfits go beyond
aesthetics and tell the story of an icon. The same can be said of the
now-infamous white lingerie and corset worn by Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair to announce her
gender-reassignment surgery. The image immediately took the Internet by storm
and Jenner’s newly-launched Twitter account gained a record number of followers
(1 million in just 4 hours), beating the likes of Justin Bieber and Barack
Obama. For this reason, it seems unsurprising that a few money-hungry websites
quickly replicated the costume and popped it online just in time for Halloween,
retailing at $74.99.

The iconic Vanity Fair cover

There are countless problems with
the decision to reduce the outfit to a Halloween prop, the first of which is
the marketing. On the website the costume is listed in the “Humorous” category
and marketed at both men and women, although the outfit is modelled by a man –
strongly reinforcing the stereotype that wearing female-gendered clothing is
still something that straight men do on special occasions to take the piss. The
next problem is the most blindingly evident problem – it mocks trans
identities, reducing them to a mere costume, a cheap Halloween joke.

Although there is dispute over
whether Caitlyn Jenner can claim to be a spokesperson for trans rights, it is
impossible to deny the impact she has had on mainstream media. I Am Cait, a docuseries following her
post-transition life was hugely successful in its first week attracting 2.7
million viewers, but most importantly it gives the star the opportunity to
occasionally deflect the attention onto her badass team of transgender friends.
Amongst these women are performance artist Zackary Drucker, actress Candis
Cayne and activist Jen Richards, all of whom join Caitlyn on a road trip to
visit GLAAD (an LGBTQ charity) to
hear the stories of underprivileged trans teens. Although Caitlyn is quite
obviously a trans woman with privilege (much has been made of the fact that one
show sees her trying to decide which designer dress to wear), it is difficult
to dispute that she is using her voice wisely and redirecting the attention to
the issues of trans women and trans women of colour.

Performance artist Jen Richards, one of the stars of I Am Cait

Essentially, this year is one
which has been huge for trans visibility and LGBTQ rights. High-profile stars such as
Miley Cyrus are shining the spotlight on gender-fluid artists and, after years of fighting, gay marriage
has finally been legalised across America. The unfortunate Caitlyn costume
incident is a sad reminder that there will also be soulless companies
attempting to make a quick buck on trans identities the minute they become
profitable. Despite the efforts of designers to break down the notion of
gendered clothing and the work of trans activists to humanise trans men and
women, it seems that outdated notions of gender still exist. Will there be one
straight bloke in America that parades around in Caitlyn’s corset after a few
whiskies this Halloween? Yes. The only reassurance is that the media and the
majority of the rational public can clearly see that the joke will be on him.